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Recommendation 60: Implement acquisition career paths that are integrated 

with an institutionalized competency model tailored to mission needs.

Problem

DoD has taken an unbalanced approach to professionalizing the workforce by focusing primarily on 

training to meet certification requirements, rather than enhancing the qualifications of the workforce. 

To develop the workforce, occupational qualifications and competency measures must exist from the 

time the member enters the AWF until they separate or retire. Twenty-nine percent of AWF members 

are early in their career, meaning they have 20 or more years until they reach retirement eligibility. 

More than half of those individuals have less than 5 years of experience.1 This situation indicates a 

large wave of early career (i.e., pipeline) professionals who require a long-range plan today for their 

development. DoD has not addressed the appropriate standards to guide AWF members in increasing

their technical and nontechnical competencies to advance in their careers. Solving these problems 

requires culture change regarding how DoD develops highly qualified AWF members. 

Background

A disconnect exists between what behaviors and qualifications members perceive necessary for 

advancement and promotion, as compared to the actual performance results and promotion potential 

recognized by their agencies.2 Today, pipeline members race to become Level III certified within their 

first 5 years in the AWF, expecting several promotions along the way.

3 This promotion momentum 

creates a false impression that members are fully qualified and proficient at or near the 5-year mark, 

whether or not the members have actually performed well in critical elements of their positions and 

demonstrated competencies needed for future positions.

4

Career Paths

Career paths are used to illustrate career possibilities for employees to progress in their field. Career 

paths help ensure that qualified members are available to fill positions in DoD that require specific

professional qualifications. A long-range career path includes jobs of increasing variety, complexity, 

responsibility, and accountability, leading to management and leadership opportunities. They describe 

the occupational qualifications (i.e., education, training, and competencies) and key work experiences

required to advance.5 Career advancement does not constitute a race up the career ladder, but rather, it

is an escalation of skills to enhance mission success and fulfill the employee. Career paths would 

provide AWF members and their supervisor’s guidance to help determine what each member needs for 

career success. 

 

1 Sean McKenna et al., Retirement in the Acquisition Workforce: Update and Insights for the Section 809 Panel Research,

RAND Corporation, August 30, 2018, 39. 2 AWF stakeholders, communication with the Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018. 3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 For purposes of this recommendation, the panel defines key work experiences as interactions inside and outside of government that 

foster professional development and career broadening (e.g., rotational assignments, temporary assignments, managerial and leadership 

experience, defense joint/service/agency collaboration, or simulation/exercise engagement).
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Competency Models

The purpose of a competency model is to provide measurable and objective means to determine if 

members have demonstrated the needed proficiency to execute tasks and meet position requirements 

for a given job. Competencies are generally gained by a combination of education, training, and 

practice. They are initially verified when the member demonstrates the task, and validated when 

someone who has already mastered the competency, such as a supervisor, acknowledges the member’s 

mastery. In the AWF, most positions require competencies that are characterized by varying 

proficiency requirements. Competency models can add data and direction to career development 

planning by objectively quantifying skill gaps for the individual and DoD Components.

6 Competencies 

are not measures of performance, and are not used to evaluate how well AWF members are performing 

in their current jobs. A member could demonstrate a task competency to a specified proficiency 

standard, yet when expected to execute that task fall short. Competencies are used to determine a

member’s qualifications, and what level of proficiency a member has mastered for a new competency 

task, or to validate that they have gained or maintained proficiency in a competency task. The 

nontechnical or soft skills are also necessary. AWF members often demonstrate technical proficiency 

but it is equally important that they demonstrate leadership skills that result from confidence and 

commitment.

For example, new cadet-pilots are gradually introduced to increasingly complex skills under the 

guidance of instructor pilots. The instructor must observe the cadet successfully perform a skill or 

maneuver to specific standards before certifying that the cadet can move on to learn new skills. Only 

when cadets have demonstrated to the instructor that they can handle the aircraft without supervision, 

are they allowed to solo.

When veteran pilots move to a different aircraft, or return to flying after an extended period away, they 

go through the same process. Although they may not have to recertify on basic flight principles, they 

have to demonstrate to a flight examiner who is experienced and current in the particular aircraft that 

they are qualified to fly that type of aircraft safely. Similarly, AWF members should demonstrate task 

competencies at the required proficiency standard to a more senior AWF member that is qualified and 

experienced in those skills to be considered qualified to perform duties requiring those skills. 

Career Development Culture

Creating a policy that simply publishes career paths and implements a competency model, without 

recognizing the heavy lifting needed to change culture, would be inadequate. Creating career paths 

and competency models through changes in statute and DoD policy would trigger a fundamental 

pivot, allowing DoD to transform the acquisition culture. This approach would bring together the 

acquisition team in new ways, requiring more interdisciplinary/multifunctional collaboration in 

training and execution. It would shift away from a singular focus on technical skills, to qualifying 

members based on a mix of technical and nontechnical skills necessary for career development and 

mission needs. It would emphasize practices that, if implemented, would be the forcing function to 

change the status quo with respect to how DoD shares new ideas and practices. Shifting to a system 

 

6 For example, Military Departments are U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army; DoD Agencies can be Defense Contract Management 

Agency (DCMA), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). 
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that allows the AWF to develop tailored practical experiences across occupational boundaries would 

enhance DoD’s ability to build teams, think critically, collaborate, innovate, and become less risk 

averse.

Discussion

Career Paths

Career paths are the range of opportunities available within an AWF functional career field and the 

criteria for vertical and horizontal movement to positions of increasing responsibility and opportunity, 

up to the highest position in that field.

Existing Statute

Although Congress has provided statutory direction that specifically requires DoD to develop career 

paths with key work experiences for more than 27 years, little evidence exists that those measures have 

been implemented comprehensively for the AWF. DAWIA (codified in Chapter 87 of Title 10 

U.S. Code) provided direction to DoD concerning career paths and key work experiences. The statutory

sections in Table 5-1 all specify career path requirements. In each case Congress’s direction has not 

been implemented in DoD.7

Table 5-1. Chapter 87, Title 10 U.S.C., Statute Governing Career Development 

DAWIA Statute Purpose

§ 1701a(b)

Performance 

Management

Requires DoD development of attractive career paths. Requires managers to develop 

performance plans to give members an understanding of how their performance contributes to 

their organization's mission and the success of the defense acquisition system.

§ 1721 Designation of 

acquisition positions

Chapter 87, 10 U.S.C, states that as a minimum the AWF comprises the following acquisitionrelated positions:

§ Program management

§ Systems planning, research, development, engineering, and testing

§ Procurement, including contracting

§ Industrial property management

§ Logistics

§ Quality control and assurance

§ Manufacturing and production

§ Business, cost estimating, financial management, and auditing 

§ Education, training, and development

§ Construction

§ Joint development and production (other agencies and foreign)

§ Intellectual property 

§ 1722 Career 

Development

Requires appropriate career paths that include education, training, experience, and assignments 

necessary for career progression to the most senior acquisition positions. 

 

7 Defense Acquisition Workforce, 10 U.S.C. Chapter 87.
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DAWIA Statute Purpose

§ 1722b Special 

requirements for 

civilian employees in 

the acquisition field

Requires DoD to establish policy/guidance for proper development, assignment, and 

employment of civilian members. Specifically requires the following: 

§ Career paths

§ Workforce strategy

§ Opportunities for promotion

§ Succession planning 

§ Workforce development strategy which focuses on diversity in promotion, 

advancement, and experiential opportunities.

§ 1723(b) Career Path 

Requirements

Requires career paths to include “completion of course work, on-the-job-training and 

demonstration of qualifications.” Requires DoD to “develop key work experiences to foster 

interaction with AWF & end-user.” Specifically for the AWF, these experiences are to be 

imbedded in the end-user environment to enhance experiential learning and help AWF members 

become seasoned.

Need for Change

10 U.S.C. § 1722 “requires appropriate career paths that include education, training, experience, and 

assignments necessary for career progression to the most senior acquisition positions,” yet DoD has not 

created career paths for all of its acquisition career fields.8 Congress purposefully allowed DoD to use

discretion in applying this statute; however, DoD failed to make substantial strides to implement career 

paths and key experiences for career progression. Congress needs to reinforce what is already in 

statute.

Discussion with all of the DoD Directors, Acquisition Career Management (DACMs) and several key 

DAU stakeholders highlighted that DoDI 5000.66, Defense Acquisition Workforce Education, Training, 

Experience, And Career Development Program, and its accompanying Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Program Desk Guide (Desk Guide), issued on July 27, 2017, do not clearly explain the workforce 

requirements for career paths.9 For example, the DoDI contains Section 6.2, Career Path Requirements, 

however it provides no actual requirements. DACM and DAU engagement also revealed that 

Section 6.2 currently only applies to specialty career fields (e.g., international acquisition). The Desk 

Guide defines the AWF by adding a career field not previously defined anywhere else (small business), 

and excludes international acquisition. DoD fails to use instructions and policy consistently for the 

AWF to identify which DoD policy requirements apply to them, falling short of congressional intent. 

DoD’s instructions and guides governing career paths and key work experiences is summarized in 

Table 5-2 below.10

 

8 Career Development, 10 U.S.C. § 1722. 9 Defense Acquisition Workforce Education, Training, Experience, and Career Development Program, DoDI 5000.66 (2017). 10 Defense Acquisition Workforce, 10 U.S.C. Chapter 87. 
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Table 5-2. DoD Instruction Governing Career Paths and Development

DoDI Purpose

DoDI 5000.66 Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Education, Training, Experience, 

and Career Development Program [AWF 

Program]

Replaces any other policy and procedure 

formally issued by the DoD to the AWF for 

career development.

“In order to establish a consistent framework for constructing acquisition 

competency models and to facilitate the analysis of cross-functional 

competencies, the AWF has adopted the 5-tiered DoD Competency 

Management Framework outlined in Volume 250 of DoDI 1400.25.” 

Contains Section 6.2, Career Path Requirements, which states, “AWF members 

assigned to career path positions must complete requirements for the career 

path.”

Current DoD policy is confusing to the point that it has become unusable, largely because its 

regulations fail to define terms to specify the career fields to which this guidance applies. For example, 

10 U.S.C § 1721, Designation of Acquisition Positions, broadly designates positions that are considered 

related to the AWF; however, DoD never crosswalks any AWF career fields to this designation. 

“DoDI 5000.66 gives no direction to its workforce; it’s not written for the workforce, it’s written to 

describe roles.”11 Adding a layer of confusion to the problem, existing workforce career development 

guidance such as the DAU websites, DoDI 5000.66, and the Acquisition Workforce Strategic Plan FY16–

21, indicate either 14 or 15 career fields.

Requirements for Career Paths—Key Work Experience 

Congress has directed DoD to develop and implement key work experiences in career paths for 

decades.12 Key work experiences are interactions inside and outside of government that foster 

professional development and career broadening (e.g., industry exchange, temporary/rotational 

assignments, managerial and leadership experience/development, multidiscipline/multi-occupational 

collaboration, simulation/exercise engagements, and contingency deployments). 

Providing AWF members with a variety of key work experiences is vital for enhancing their 

proficiency in collaboration and networking as technology evolves and becomes increasingly prevalent 

in the AWF’s daily operations.

Technology is also making some jobs far more important, especially those that only smart government 

managers can perform, like building bridges among the increasingly networked government and 

connecting with the ever-growing array of government’s constituencies.

13

Each AWF career path should include key work experiences that can give AWF members opportunities 

to develop technical and nontechnical competencies necessary by acquiring skills for innovatively

solving real-world problems. AWF stakeholders emphasized the importance of determining how well a 

 

11 DACM, AWF stakeholders, communication with the Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018. 12 General Education, Training, and Experience Requirements, 10 U.S.C. § 1723. 13 “Excellence in Government: Solving the Right Problem with the Federal Workforce,” Terry Gerton and Donald F. Kettl, Government 

Executive, September 25, 2018, accessed November 6, 2018, https://www.govexec.com/excellence/managementmatters/2018/09/solving-right-problem-federal-workforce/151511/. 
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member learns to reflect on and solve problems.14 These key experiences can allow individual members

and the organization to which they belong to experience different roles and prepare for additional 

responsibilities. 

Rotational Assignments

Recommendation 61 of this chapter stresses the importance of PPEPs for building the AWF’s 

understanding of how industry contributes to national security. The opportunities for professional 

development fostered by an exchange with industry cannot be matched by internal government 

mechanisms.15 Specific opportunities like PPEPs should be identified for each career field, and 

integrated into career paths. Rotational assignments within DoD can also be used to provide joint key 

work experience and to spread best practices among the acquisition community.

SME Track

Many AWF members are specialists in their craft, and although they want to skillfully master their 

jobs, they have no desire to lead organizations. These members’ goals may be to have a career as an 

SME. Similarly, DoD has many missions that require specific technical career paths. DoD needs the 

flexibility to identify career paths that focus on accumulating high expertise in a particular domain or 

key technical skills. Providing key work experiences that focus on enhancing domain expertise and 

technical skills would support members who want to pursue the SME track. Supervisors and members 

should continue career development conversations throughout members’ careers. Members who select 

an SME track should, however, have an option to change course and gain the competencies necessary 

for leading people.

Managerial/Leadership Track

A recurring theme in stakeholder feedback was the importance of leadership. In general, stakeholders 

indicated DoD needs to identify members with managerial and leadership interests earlier in their 

careers and provide avenues for them to practice small-scale leadership before taking on a supervisory 

role. This practice is common in military career models, but not often practiced in the civilian 

workforce. DoD should facilitate early leadership experiences for members interested in 

managerial/leadership tracks and prepare them in nontechnical skills discussed below.

Implementing a Career Path Framework in the AWF 

The Section 809 Panel assessed the case study below, focused on the financial management (FM)

workforce, as an example that could be emulated for the AWF. This case study notes similarities 

between the AWF and the financial-management sector, with its 13 distinct career fields, and 

acknowledged the AWF career fields have a broader array of disciplines that perform drastically 

different roles within DoD. Because the AWF performs across many different domains and supports 

many different missions, functional communities should provide input to the DoD Components

regarding the broad body of knowledge that is common across their functional career fields, and the 

 

14 AWF senior leader, communication with the Section 809 Panel, June-August 2018. 15 AWF stakeholders, communication with the Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018.
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DoD Component should be responsible for developing career paths that consider the functional input 

yet are tailored to the DoD Components’ respective missions.

Case Study: 

Best Practice Civilian Career Roadmap and Competency Development in the FM Workforce

This case study provides overarching career development information for the FM workforce, which marries measurable 

job activities and aligns competencies for its workforce into career paths.16 This case study, which highlights career paths, 

as a best practice and is similar to what is recommended for the DoD AWF. More information about the FM competency 

model is available at: https://fmonline.ousdc.osd.mil/Professional/Civilian-Career.aspx. 

Problem: The DoD FM community recognized that no institutionalized, standard body of knowledge existed for the

FM workforce and used a competency foundation to improve the overall proficiency of the workforce. 

Example: An Air Force hiring manager looking for a GS-12 0510 Accountant could not determine the competency or 

proficiency of an Army GS-12 0510 Accountant. 

Context: The Human Capital and Resource Management unit for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) 

(Comptroller) developed a comprehensive FM workforce portfolio that includes DoD-wide FM civilian career roadmaps. 

The portfolio also includes a competency-based certification program that mirrors the expectations in the career 

roadmaps. After a pilot in 2013 and approval of DoDI 1300.26, implementation began in 2014 and the program was fully 

operational in 2015. 

Highlights: The program’s foundation is a set of 24 enterprisewide competencies aligned to applicable occupational 

series, their associated proficiency levels, and selected leadership competencies. FM community leaders are able to 

assess and close gaps between current competencies and capabilities and those required in the future. Because the 

program is based on enterprisewide FM competencies, it is the centerpiece of the community’s strategic human capital 

mosaic, which binds together career roadmaps, IDPs, competency gap assessments, associated strategies to close the 

gaps, and ultimately hiring practices. 

§ As members progress, at a certain level there is a mandate for a minimum 3-month developmental assignment. 

§ An e-catalogue includes a course inventory with more than 13,000 courses aligned to the FM competencies to 

include 80 web-based courses developed by the OUSD(Comptroller) office. 

§ The program spans the tenure of the employee and uses technical and nontechnical competencies and 

proficiency levels. 

§ The program operates within a governance structure of DoD FM leaders from the DoD Components; they 

provide input and recommendations on the program’s policy and overall operation.

The program enables DoD FM leadership to focus training in necessary areas and track progress. It reinforces the culture 

of professional development within DoD, ultimately increasing proficiency in technical and leadership disciplines and 

enabling the FM community to keep pace with evolving warfighter needs. 

In this construct, members of the AWF can visualize what experiences, (i.e., education, competencies, 

potential assignments, leadership) constitute a path toward career progression that aligns with their 

individual goals to move toward being an SME or leader. It is important to identify how the AWF 

could develop these two integrated concepts for each career field, similar to the FM community’s career 

roadmap.

 

16 “Civilian Career Roadmaps & Job Items Library,” DoD FM Online, accessed November 6, 2018, 

https://fmonline.ousdc.osd.mil/Professional/Civilian-Career.aspx.
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How DoD establishes its policies and funding to support these initiatives will dictate the range and 

success they will have on influencing the workforce. To be truly effective, echelons below OSD 

(i.e., DoD Components) should manage their own programs’ Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund (DAWDF) allocations to match specific mission-related, career-broadening 

opportunities to what would be best for the individual AWF members and their organizations’ mission 

requirements. DoD also must understand that talent management plays an important role in 

integrating career paths within its workforce. Successfully implementing a talent management 

framework would help unleash the benefits of career paths for individual employees and DoD as a 

whole. 

Competency Models

Congress needs to enact statute and guidance to require competency models with proficiency 

standards that include technical and nontechnical skills to be implemented for the AWF. A competency 

model requires a tailored, mission-related task set of competencies, with proficiency standards that 

measure both technical and nontechnical skills. It must be designed to assist each AWF member to 

develop and demonstrate the competencies and proficiencies for success through all phases of their 

careers, based on the following definitions: 

§ Task Competency: Methods for a member to demonstrate individual tasks or task elements 

specific to the member’s current position in an effort to occupationally qualify the member in 

“an observable, measurable pattern of knowledge, abilities, skills, and other characteristics that 

individuals need to perform work roles or occupational functions successfully.”17 Task 

competencies use specific mission-related tasks that require direct supervisor feedback to 

identify any on-the-job training gaps present in real-time. At all stages of their career, AWF 

members should be assessed by a more senior acquisition professional for each task competency 

using proficiency standards. Competencies may be gained through education, training, or 

experience. Task competencies can be categorized as technical or nontechnical as follows:

- Technical: Associated with a specific occupation or functional skills to perform the job task 

required. These competencies reflect domain-specific requirements and are associated with 

critical functions particular to the mission.18

- Nontechnical: Demonstrate the ability to relate, manage, lead and/or develop others. 

Personal attributes and characteristics associated with “people skills or soft skills.”19

§ Proficiency Standards: Distinct formal categories used to describe various levels of expertise 

which represent a scale of demonstrated occupational skills. These categories describe the 

member’s ability to execute a task competency successfully and are used as an occupational 

qualification measure. 

 

17 DoD Civilian Personnel Management System: Civilian Strategic Human Capital Planning (SHCP), DoDI 1400.25, Volume 250, 21 (2016). 18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.
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DoD should consider following proficiency standards, which would correspond to specific task 

competencies, as a way for the supervisor to determine how a member demonstrates a single task for 

purposes of occupational qualification. The following are examples of possible proficiency standards:

§ Entry: The level at which an individual demonstrates a particular task competency in basic 

acquisition situations. As related to tasks, the member can identify “simple processes; name 

parts, tools, and simple facts/terms about the task; requires close/extensive guidance, and needs 

to be told or shown how to do most of the tasks.”20 

§ Intermediate: The level at which the individual demonstrates a particular task competency in 

some difficult acquisition situations. As related to the task, the member demonstrates

successfully most parts of the task but requires frequent guidance and oversight.21 On-the-job 

training is necessary to develop task proficiency. Intermittently executes tasks independently.

§ Advanced: The level at which the individual demonstrates a particular task competency in 

select complex acquisition situations. As related to the task competency, the member 

demonstrates extensive skill and is technically competent in most complex situations in one or 

more areas. “Applies the competency in difficult situations, needing only spot checks; can 

determine step-by-step procedures for the tasks; only requires occasional guidance.”22 

§ Expert: The level at which the individual demonstrates a particular task competency in the 

widest variety of acquisition situations. As related to the task competency, the member 

demonstrates expert technical skills at the highest level of complexity with no assistance. 

Superior ability to transform technical skill into teachable actions for the occupational series in 

which they reside. 

Competency Model with Proficiency Standards

To date, AWF qualifications have centered on skills that were largely unmeasurable because they lack 

proficiency standards to gauge the competency level. Consequently, DoD has used time served and 

certification levels as a proxy for experience when qualifying the workforce. This model does not allow 

DoD to plan for future career development, while measuring current competencies. “We need to move 

from a focus on rules and compliance to a focus on performance and learning.”23 A formalized method 

to determine individual proficiency standards would identify how a member actually demonstrates the 

job tasks, and to what level of proficiency, rather than just cataloging how many years a member has 

held an acquisition position. By knowing what proficiency is expected of them in the future, members

and their supervisors can address appropriate development needs when creating IDPs. 

 

20 OUSD, DoD Financial Management: Certification Program Handbook, October 2016, accessed November 6, 2018, 

https://fmonline.ousdc.osd.mil/Assets/documents/docs-certification/DoD_FMCertification_Handbook.pdf. 21 Ibid.

22 Ibid. 23 “Excellence in Government: Solving the Right Problem with the Federal Workforce,” Terry Gerton and Donald F. Kettl, Government 

Executive, September 25, 2018, accessed November 6, 2018, https://www.govexec.com/excellence/managementmatters/2018/09/solving-right-problem-federal-workforce/151511/.
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At the DoD Component or unit level, hiring activities do not have a method to effectively qualify 

members using a set of competencies, so they cannot effectively determine their person’s fitness for the 

next job.24

Replace the over-defined job specifications of the current system with a competency-based, talentmanagement model. Competencies should be vested in individuals and individuals should be matched to 

missions, instead of having static occupations define both. Rules have calcified the federal personnel 

system to the point that compliance has become the driving rule. What the federal government most needs 

is a system that recognizes that it doesn’t matter where government employees sit—what matters is what 

they know and how they contribute to the mission. It’s the capacity of the government’s managers, not the 

specifications of their seats, that counts. As work becomes more complex and more managers need to work 

across complex networks to get the job done, that’s going to be increasingly important.25

In today’s system, if new members demonstrate the same tasks every year for 4 years in a row with no 

attempt made to broaden their career experiences, they are presumed to be equally qualified as 

individuals who demonstrated a variety of tasks over the same period.26 In either case, 4 years’ 

experience provides no information about how proficient the members are at the tasks they 

demonstrated, or to what degree new tasks have been introduced and mastered. 

DoD must stop attempting to categorize the AWF into buckets of apprentice, journeyman, and expert. 

Every AWF occupation requires varying degrees of expertise as it relates to mission tasks. Those tasks 

represent an array of proficiency standards. Individuals should be considered for moving to the next 

tier based on how they perform mission-related tasks at the appropriate mission-related proficiency 

standard.

Many stakeholders and senior leaders reported that AWF members need a level of proficiency that

directly correlates to a current position and current and future mission requirements. They indicated 

there is no value in attempting to master a general list of competencies for a career field, some of which 

their AWF members may never be required to use. Some pointed to their own careers, for which they 

have mastered a specific AWF competency so long ago that their skills atrophied far below what would 

be considered expert level today.27 Not all competencies are necessary to master, and competency 

requirements should be tailored for each position. DoD should consider the following in implementing 

competency models:

 

24 Unit is a level of organization below the Military Department/Defense Agency. It is usually associated with a command led by a flag 

officer. Designation of the unit to participate in the development of competency and proficiency standards is left to the Military 

Department/Defense Agency.

25 “Excellence in Government: Solving the Right Problem with the Federal Workforce,” Terry Gerton and Donald F. Kettl, Government 

Executive, September 25, 2018, accessed November 6, 2018, https://www.govexec.com/excellence/managementmatters/2018/09/solving-right-problem-federal-workforce/151511/. 26 AWF stakeholders, communication with the Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018 27 Ibid.
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§ Key work experiences have a return on investment greater than a classroom can offer.28

§ A competency model allows for DoD to consider the competencies commercial-sector 

employees gained by their experience in industry that could satisfy competencies in the 

government AWF, and enable DoD to recruit qualified midcareer candidates when needed. It 

would allow AWF members to leave government for jobs in industry and return later, bringing 

with them an increased understanding of industry that DoD needs. If DoD considers the 

competencies developed in industry as part of the competency models, AWF members may 

regard opportunities with industry as career enhancements, rather than career interruptions.

§ The AWF is dynamic. DoD’s mission evolves continuously, so the AWF must be able to 

innovate with changes in mission, technology, law, policy, operating concepts, or other factors. 

AWF members’ skills cannot be static, and must be tailored to the mission.

Defense Acquisition Corps

As articulated in 10 U.S.C. § 1731, Defense Acquisition Corps (DAC) and 10 U.S.C. § 1732, Selection 

Criteria and Procedures, the DAC construct has outlived its purpose, and should be eliminated from 

statute. 10 U.S.C. § 1732, Critical Acquisition Positions, requires AWF members to meet a 4-year 

experience requirement, specific education requirements, and “demonstrated analytical and decisionmaking capabilities, job performance, and qualifying experience.” These criteria flow over to § 1733 

(CAP) because these candidates are required to be members of DAC. A shift in focus from years of 

experience to demonstrated skill would render DAC qualification criteria obsolete. 

Interviews with DoD stakeholders showed that, for the most part, the DoD Components do not use the 

DAC construct to manage the AWF. Since DAWIA was enacted in statute, other means have been used 

to track and manage the AWF to ensure that the requirements of these provisions are met. Specific 

DAC provisions, such as officer promotion rate and the mobility statement, should be retained in 

statute but not explicitly linked to DAC.

Critical Acquisition Positions

The requirements in 10 U.S.C. § 1733, Critical Acquisition Positions, do not appropriately describe the 

competencies necessary for these positions. Experience based on years in a job as well as specific 

education requirements should be replaced with competency requirements. DoD should specify 

competency requirements for CAPs. The implementation of career paths and a competency model for 

the AWF should allow DoD the flexibility to define the standards for the AWF and CAPs within each 

career field. 

Basis for Statutory Change to Require Competency Model

DoD has dedicated substantial resources toward competency development (e.g., AWQI, Acquisition 

Qualification Standard, DoDI 1400.25 Civilian Personnel Management System).29 Although these 

 

28 Ibid. 29 DAU Stakeholder Engagement, August 2018. DoD Civilian Personnel Management System: Civilian Strategic Human Capital Planning 

(SHCP), DoDI 1400.25, Volume 250, 2 (2016). R. Wood, “Knowledge vs. Experience; The Need for an Acquisition On-the-Job Qualification 

Standard,” Defense AT&L Magazine, May-June 2009, 10-12.
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models were developed, they have not been successfully implemented into the civilian AWF. Because 

all of these efforts and guidance are not mandatory for the AWF, they have not been implemented. The 

panel does not endorse any particular model, rather examples are provided to demonstrate that a 

significant body of knowledge already exists to begin the work needed to develop a competency model 

for each AWF career field.

Nontechnical Competencies

With implementation of this recommendation, AWF members would be required to demonstrate the 

appropriate balance of technical and nontechnical skills, as both technical and nontechnical skills are 

required to meet mission needs. The AWF has failed to appropriately develop nontechnical 

competencies before members begin to supervise. Requiring AWF members to demonstrate

nontechnical competencies helps their supervisors determine members’ readiness for positions that 

requires them to interact more with people. The following are examples derived from the DoD FM

community requirements:30

§ brainstorming in a group setting

§ flexibility 

§ patience

§ resilience

§ interpersonal skills

§ credibility 

§ team building

Congress has repeatedly directed DoD to “develop key work experiences that foster interaction with 

the acquisition workforce and end-user.”31 In doing so, DoD should include appropriate nontechnical 

competencies that meet Congress’s intent for each AWF career field.

Arguably, the civilian workforce is reluctant to evaluate the same type of character traits known as 

people skills that the military evaluates. Military performance reports target individual nontechnical 

competencies in addition to technical competencies to assess performance and encourage specific 

behaviors to build military culture. For example, the Army officer rating system evaluates individuals 

on these skills:32

§ communication 

§ teamwork

§ followership

§ team building 

§ interpersonal skills (i.e., people, coaching, teaching, counseling, motivating, empowering)

§ emotional characteristics (i.e., self-control, calm under pressure)

 

30 “Civilian Career Roadmaps & Job Items Library,” DoD FM Online, accessed November 6, 2018, 

https://fmonline.ousdc.osd.mil/Professional/Civilian-Career.aspx. 31 Career Path Requirements, 10 U.S.C. § 1723(b). 32 See sample Army Officer Evaluation Report, DA Form 67-9, October 2011, accessed September 5, 2018, 

https://www.femplate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/army-oer-support-form-army-oer-support-form-army-oer-support-formexamples-army-oer-support-form-character-bullets-army-oer-support-form.jpg. 
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§ ability to develop subordinates

§ conducting assessments (i.e., after action reports, facilitating continuous improvement)

The Senior Executive Service (SES) qualification standards provide an example of how the civilian 

workforce assesses critical nontechnical skills (e.g., collaboration, team building, innovation). Almost 

all of the SES skills depend on employees’ ability to successfully master nontechnical skills that

demonstrate their ability to lead people, lead change, drive results, build business acumen, and build 

coalitions. 33 To qualify for an SES position, an employee must draw from accomplishments only within 

the last 10 years prior to appointment. 34

There are specific things DoD can do to help develop critical nontechnical competencies, as they relate 

to career development. Enhancing these competencies could help alleviate cultural boundaries that 

exist around stove-piped career fields in the AWF. Some examples include fostering the ability to build 

and lead cohesive teams, applying critical thinking to technical problems, collaborating, and 

experimenting with ways to eliminate risk-averse habits and build innovative solutions. 

Change Status Quo Culture

There is a continuous demand for culture change in the AWF, yet DoD does not routinely provide 

AWF members with the nontechnical skills needed to drive change. To build practical experience, 

reduce gaps, and cultivate these nontechnical competencies, DoD must develop these nontechnical 

skills earlier in members’ careers. “Innovation occurs when organizations solve difficult problems in an 

environment that encourages experimentation, risk taking and allows for short term failure.”35 With 

new ideas come increased risk, unacquainted procedure, and inexperience. Often, it can be difficult for 

a good idea to withstand the momentum familiarity carries. 

Furthering a culture of innovation within the DoD will contribute to the achievement of these 

transformational visions. Senior DoD leaders have endorsed and promulgated a culture of innovation ... 

and challenged officers during a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy to ‘risk failure, because in failure, we 

will learn and acquire the knowledge that will make successful innovation possible.’

36

The functional communities and DoD Components must provide means for the AWF to cultivate new 

experiences—cross-functional and cross-organizational discussions with scenarios that highlight best 

practices in critical thinking, collaboration, innovation, and reduced risk aversion—resulting in a more 

mission focused mindset. AWF members can benefit from trusted sources that have navigated similar 

situations. AWF members are often reluctant to try innovative practices without a coach or a mentor.37

 

33 “Senior Executive Service: Executive Core Qualifications,” OPM.gov, accessed September 1, 2018, https://www.opm.gov/policy-dataoversight/senior-executive-service/executive-core-qualifications/. 34 Ibid. 35 Jeff Windham, “20 Observations on Innovation,” Defense AT&L Magazine, July-August 2016, accessed November 6, 2018, 

https://www.dau.mil/library/defense-atl/DATLFiles/Jul-Aug2016/Windham.pdf. 36 Craig Whittinghill, David Berkowitz, and Phillip A. Farrington, “Does Your Culture Encourage Innovation?,” Defense Acquisition Research 

Journal, Volume 22, Issue 2, 216-239 (2015). 37 AWF stakeholders, communication with Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018.
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Mentorship

Military leaders spend much of their time developing subordinates; it is engrained in their culture, and 

they are evaluated on how well they develop people and teams.38 Military leaders encourage critical 

thinking skills by coaching and mentoring at all levels.39 Much can be gained from how the privatesector provides mentoring as well. A February 2018 GAO report noted that in one Fortune 500 

company “leaders are expected to participate in long-term career development for people two-levels 

below them, and provide managers access to external coaches who focus more on leadership.”40

Case Study:

Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy’s Contracting Officer Mentoring Program 

This case study of DLA Energy’s Contracting Officer Mentoring Program, illustrates the power of mentorship and 

collaboration. The agency cross-populates its contracting officers within an organization. This program resulted in a 

chain-reaction of critical thinking and innovation, while cultivating acquisition conversations in small-group settings to 

help solve unique problem sets.

DLA Energy’s Contracting Officer Mentoring Program enhances experiential and collaborative skills. This program 

purposefully brings together individuals from diverse experiences regarding contract types, complexity, tactics, policy 

barriers, career path, and rotational experiences. This method provided a platform for cross-directorate networking and 

experiential learning.

The Contracting Officer Mentoring Program runs annually for 8-months, meeting monthly to discuss a specific topic with 

senior leaders or SMEs. The program has a mix of small-group sessions and large-group guest speaker sessions. The largegroup sessions are led by an assigned emerging leader (someone new to supervision), which provides these individuals 

the opportunity to lead a larger group and interact independently with the senior leader when establishing a forum for 

the session. In the small group sessions, contracting officers interact with an organizational senior leader on topics 

chosen based on workforce feedback. 

The idea-sharing approach resulted in new uses of contracting methods and techniques to streamline award time, learn 

more about industry challenges, and collaborate on best practices. It also forged informal mentoring matches. Workforce 

feedback regarding this program indicates it has been completely successful and rewarding to both the participants and 

the organization.

Implementing a Competency Model Framework in the AWF 

Although functional communities play a critical role identifying career field foundational knowledge 

that is common across DoD, the role of the DoD Components in shaping competencies based on 

mission requirements and the role of members’ direct units in determining the competencies and 

proficiencies for specific jobs is more important.41 DoD should consider the FM Case Study’s best 

practice of the functional community only flowing down the broadest competencies from the top. For 

example, the FM community had just 24 DoD-wide competencies established across all 13 FM career 

 

38 Ibid. Army Officer Evaluation Report, DA Form 67-9, October 2011, accessed September 5, 2018, https://www.femplate.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/10/army-oer-support-form-army-oer-support-form-army-oer-support-form-examples-army-oer-support-formcharacter-bullets-army-oer-support-form.jpg. 39 AWF stakeholders, communication with Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018. 40 GAO, Defense Acquisition Workforce: Opportunities Exist to Improve Practices for Developing Program Managers, GAO-18-217,

February 2018, accessed July 25, 2018, https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690094.pdf. 41 AWF stakeholders, communication with Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018.
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fields. FM’s additional competencies were tailored at the DoD Component and unit level. In the AWF 

context, equivalent inputs could come from the following:

§ Functional communities (i.e., functional leads and functional integrated product teams) for 

broad technical knowledge.

§ DoD Components (e.g., U.S. Air Force, Defense Contract Management Agency) for mission- and 

domain-specific knowledge.

§ Unit (e.g., Acquisition Systems Command, DLA Energy) for job-specific requirements.

The broadest input would come from the functional communities, which would determine each 

acquisition career field’s baseline range of competencies, define the terms that describe proficiency 

standards, and ensure the baseline is consistent across DoD. Then, the DoD Components would add 

competencies specific to their respective current or future mission requirements. Lastly, the unit would 

develop occupational competencies unique to its specific jobs and mission needs. DoD must recognize 

that the competency model would be best served by placing the functional communities in a 

supporting role in relation to the DoD Components. DoD Components are well-positioned to 

understand their own competency requirements, and they should take the lead in developing the 

competency model within their ranks. 

At this lowest level, the unit would draw from the functional communities’ and DoD Components’ 

catalogs of competencies for the career fields to determine which requirements for a particular job or 

position are necessary. Supervisors would then qualify AWF members by assessing their competencies 

and proficiencies against job requirements to determine their development needs.

These layers would not produce competencies that duplicate each other, but rather would build off of 

the foundational competencies described at the functional community level, and become more mission 

focused with the agency and unit task competencies. This example shows the functional community, 

DoD Components, and units as decision makers for task competency and proficiency standard 

development; however, DoD should be given the flexibility to implement this arrangement in any 

appropriate fashion to allow the development of the proficiency standards. DoD would have the 

flexibility to recognize existing models from career fields, like FM, that may have already implemented 

competency models. 

Conclusions

To help ensure members of the DoD AWF are adequately qualified to perform tasks associated with 

their respective positions and prepared to traverse their chosen career trajectory, DoD must clearly 

identify and define AWF career paths and create competency models.

It’s no secret that Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition professionals work in a very challenging, 

high-pressure environment. The acquisition process involves an integrated product team of diverse 

functional experts who must employ critical thinking skills, collaborative problem-solving and robust 
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communications to be effective. This dynamic means that the acquisition team’s behaviors often can be 

critical factors in a program’s outcome.42

Integrating Career Paths and Competency Models

DoD could accelerate cultural change in the AWF by using career paths and competency models 

together. Although either could be implemented independently, integrating them adds leverage to 

create change. If, for example, acquisition units map the competencies and proficiencies to acquisition 

career field career paths, AWF members would see “the range of opportunities available within an 

AWF functional career field and the criteria for vertical and horizontal movement to positions of 

increasing responsibility and opportunity, up to the highest position in that field,” and could direct 

their career development to acquire needed technical and nontechnical skills.43 Although some DoD 

Components have made progress in creating an integrated career path and competency model, none 

have a complete system as described here.

Such a model can best be achieved when DoD Components use key work experiences to bring 

acquisition teams together in ways that transform the workforce culture. The following are three key 

areas that illustrate how DoD can reinforce competency model skills by creating key career path work 

experiences:

§ Building and leading cohesive teams to enhance critical thinking.

§ Providing opportunities for collaboration.

§ Encouraging risk taking and innovation.

AWF members need opportunities to practice certain nontechnical skills that would match well with 

the key work experiences needed to reinforce the acquisition team concept (i.e., multidiscipline/cross 

organizational teams). These interconnected competencies (i.e., building teams, critical thinking, 

collaboration, innovation, and risk taking) embody the core nontechnical skills required to navigate 

defense acquisition in the 21st century dynamic marketplace. The examples below illustrate a sample of 

the broader opportunities.

Creating Key Work Experiences that Broaden Culture and Break Down Barriers

Building and Leading Cohesive Teams in Effort to Enhance Critical Thinking

Successful teams identified in academic literature—such as New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team, the 

Navy Seals, Clemson Football, the Miami Heat, Apple, and Ford—consistently practice team building, 

cohesiveness, and distinct team development using team-oriented critical thinking to solve problems.44

Much of the academic research showed that critical thinking occurs in multidiscipline/ crossoccupational collaborative group settings, exercises, and simulations that bring together the acquisition 

team to practice specific decision-making and problem-solving skills. To capitalize on this success 

model, DoD needs to do the following:

 

42 Brian Schultz, “The Seven Lethal Acquisition Diseases,” Defense AT&L Magazine, January-February 2017, 32-35, accessed 

September 13, 2018. https://www.dau.mil/library/defense-atl/DATLFiles/Jan-Feb2017/Schultz.pdf. 43 As cited under the career path definition earlier in this section. 44 Jon Gordon, The Power of Positive Leadership (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2017).
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§ Transition all AWF career paths from presentation-based training to experiential learning that 

incorporates simulation exercises for which critical thinking, rather than rote learning, is 

demonstrated. 

§ Include open-ended exercises for which critical thinking is emphasized throughout all AWF 

career paths. Training, other than for basic technical skills, should include multidiscipline/crossoccupational, team-based scenarios. 

Collaboration

Many programmatic roadblocks and cultural issues can be addressed if DoD enhances internal and 

external collaboration. “Collaboration is NOT cooperation...it is more than the intersection of common 

goals, but a collective determination to reach an identical objective by sharing knowledge, learning and 

building consensus.”45 Every conversation that explores how other entities solve acquisition problems 

induces innovation.

Innovation, in the commercial and the DoD context, tends to be based on collaboration. Multiple 

technical disciplines often have to come together, and the synergy between multiple disciplines may be the 

central feature of the innovative idea. In the DoD, technical ideas only reach the market when the using 

[M]ilitary Service decides to embrace the new concept or new product. This is not quite the same as the 

commercial market where ‘early adopters’ from a large customer base may help a technology establish a 

foothold and gain credence. Commercial entrepreneurs build the better mouse trap first and expect 

customers to come. In DoD the customers, the [M]ilitary Departments, ask for fairly specific products 

and then budget the resources to pay for the development of those products.46

DoD could enhance collaboration by promoting and using a platform specifically for the AWF to 

effectively share ideas, collaborate, and trade documents representing best practice.47 Examples that 

illustrate how such collaboration can work already exist:

§ One stakeholder organization indicated that it recognizes and rewards implementation of other 

agencies’ best practices.48 Often, recognition is given to the inventor of a best practice, which 

fosters recreating the wheel, rather than collaboration. Real problem solving occurs when two 

DoD components talk to each other when trying to implement a solution. 

§ The FM community has mandatory developmental assignments as part of its career 

progression, which greatly aids collaboration and generation of new ideas.

49

 

45 “Leadership Collaboration Skills: Everyone Focuses on Developing These,” Mike Schoultz, Digital Spark Marketing, January 11, 2016, 

accessed September 13, 2018, https://digitalsparkmarketing.com/leadership-collaboration-skills/. 46 Frank Kendall, “Innovation in the Defense Acquisition Enterprise,” Defense AT&L Magazine, November-December 2015, 4-5. 47 AWF stakeholders, communication with the Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018. 48 Deputy DACM, AWF stakeholders, communication with Section 809 Panel, July-August 2018. 49 “Civilian Career Roadmaps & Job Items Library,” DoD FM Online, accessed November 6, 2018, 

https://fmonline.ousdc.osd.mil/Professional/Civilian-Career.aspx.
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Risk and Innovation

Lack of opportunity and risk-aversion limit opportunities to innovate. To get the AWF comfortable 

with accepting more risk will require a convergence of key work experiences and nontechnical skill 

development. “DoD is afraid to fail, and if you cannot fail, there is no learning environment.”50 To 

create an avenue for practical experience to innovate means to create an environment that allows for 

short-term failures, trial and error, and latitude to make decisions at a lower level. 

We have a very punitive, risk-averse system that treats most every mistake or failure as an ethical or 

criminal act as opposed to just a mistake. So we shouldn’t be surprised that the workforce, particularly 

those on the acquisition side, is risk averse.51

Scenarios for critical thinking need to be fostered by leadership, but driven by AWF members who 

have the passion to create change. “Passion drives innovation—not rank, power or position.”52

Leadership must create an environment accepting of appropriate risk, or the AWF will lack an avenue 

for practical experience to innovate. “Leaders can’t order innovation to occur; they can be champions 

and help clear roadblocks, but, in general, senior leaders are not the driving force in innovation.”53

Culture and Leadership

Unless DoD is willing to take a holistic approach to culture change, to include building the AWF 

professionals’ qualifications, rather than relying on certifications, no change will occur.54 Applying a 

concise, well defined competency model in career paths (similar to the FM Case Study) will better 

establish what qualifications should look like. A career path illuminates the possibilities and potential 

areas of focus, and the competency model proposed here goes beyond focusing on qualification. When 

combined, career paths and competency models support cultural change. 

To date, DoD has operated with disjointed instructions and inconsistent application. Instead, DoD 

should operate with tailored competencies and proficiency standards with integration of technical and 

nontechnical skills, so AWF members can understand what is expected of them, and how to work 

toward managerial/leadership and SME positions. The legislative changes associated with this 

recommendation will require AWF leadership to develop AWF members capable of building a 

cohesive, mission-focused team that thrives on exchanges inside and outside of government. 

Implementing career paths for each AWF career field and a competency model tailored for each AWF 

career field together, provides AWF members a developmental and experiential career progression, 

and clarifies what qualifications members requires for their current jobs and for future jobs. These 

frameworks complement each other and act as key components to transform workforce development. 

 

50 “Acquisition: Eliminating the culture barrier to innovative acquisition,” Billy Mitchell, FedScoop, April 27, 2015, accessed August 27, 

2018, https://www.fedscoop.com/the-cultural-roadblock-to-innovative-acquisition. 51 Ibid. 52 Jeff Windham, Jeff, “20 Observations on Innovation,” Defense AT&L Magazine, July-August 2016, accessed November 6, 2018, 

https://www.dau.mil/library/defense-atl/DATLFiles/Jul-Aug2016/Windham.pdf. 53 Ibid.

54 James N. Phillips, Jr., “Instruction, Direction and Correction: Improving the Acquisition Culture,” Defense AT&L Magazine, MarchApril 2018, 26-28, accessed November 6, 2018, https://www.dau.mil/library/defense-atl/DATLFiles/Mar-April_2018/Phillips.pdf. 
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Implementation

Legislative Branch 

Career Paths

§ Establish a requirement in 10 U.S.C. § 1701a, Performance Management, requiring DoD to 

develop career paths for every designated career field in the AWF within 24 months of 

enactment of this recommendation. 

- Amend 10 U.S.C. § 1722, Career Development, to require DoD to develop appropriate career 

paths for all AWF career fields. 

§ Establish a requirement in 10 U.S.C. § 1721, Designation of Acquisition Positions, directing DoD 

to define in policy which occupational career fields are designated for the AWF. These career 

fields must be codified in DoD instruction and kept current.55 In statute, require DoD to publish 

a policy adhering to this statute 6 months after enactment of this recommendation.

§ Establish in 10 U.S.C. § 1722b, Special Requirements for Civilian Employees in the Acquisition 

Field, a requirement that DoD develop key work experience in the form of multidiscipline 

training (e.g., multifunctional, cross-discipline, multi-occupational). 

- Require DoD to submit a plan in 12 months from enactment that identifies specific actions 

the department will take to develop key work experiences for each AWF career field.

§ Amend the requirement in 10 U.S.C. § 1723, Career Path Requirements, to apply to all AWF 

career fields (as opposed to only critical acquisition-related duties and tasks).

- Require DoD to develop a strategic target that specifies a percent of the workforce, or a

percent of funding, it will dedicate annually to identifying, developing, and establishing key 

work experiences. Include the target and rationale in the report(s) to be submitted in 

response to the change to 10 U.S.C. § 1722b above.

Competency Model

§ Establish a requirement in 10 U.S.C. § 1701a, Performance Management, that DoD develop a 

competency-based model with defined proficiency standards and technical and nontechnical 

competencies for every designated career field in the AWF within 24 months of enactment of

this recommendation. 

- Require civilian qualification assessments to include both technical and nontechnical 

competencies.

 

55 Currently, 14-15 AWF career fields exist, managed under 20 functional leaders. These career fields are not the same as the acquisition 

related positions designated in 10 U.S.C. § 1721, nor are they designed to be the same; however, DoD must decide exactly which AWF 

career fields are officially apart of the AWF, understanding that each requires a career path.
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§ Repeal 10 U.S.C. § 1731, Defense Acquisition Corp and 10 U.S.C. § 1732, Selection Criteria and 

Procedures.

- Preserve 10 U.S.C. § 1731 (b), Promotion Rate for Officers.

- Preserve the Mobility Statement and Promotion Rate for Officers currently included in 

10 U.S.C. § 1732(e).

- Relocate Mobility Statement and Promotion Rate for Officers to 10 U.S.C. § 1733 Critical 

Acquisition Positions.

Executive Branch

§ Cancel DoDI 5000.66, Defense Acquisition Workforce Education, Training, Experience, and 

Career Development Program.

§ Replace DoDI 5000.66, Defense Acquisition Workforce Education, Training, Experience, and 

Career Development Program, with guidance that clearly establishes responsibility, scope, and 

definitions of the AWF career influencers and DoD’s developmental program within 18 months 

of enactment of this recommendation. 

- Delegate the responsibilities and authorities to the DoD Components to develop and 

implement the guidance on career paths and competency models. The guidance should 

establish the OSD HCI office role as a facilitator in support of the DoD Components in 

developing and implementing the guidance codified in this recommendation. 

- Ensure a peer review, at a minimum with the Military Services’ senior acquisition 

executives (SAEs) or agency component acquisition executives (CAEs).

- Clarify how career fields are affected by the changes created by the split of Acquisition, 

Technology and Logistics into Acquisition and Sustainment and Research and Engineering, 

identify which career fields will be managed by Acquisition and Sustainment and which by 

Research and Engineering, and indicate how the two organizations will collaborate on 

career management responsibilities.

§ Delegate responsibility and authority to the DoD Components to develop a user guide for AWF 

supervisors.

- Require DoD Component user guides to include all AWF career fields assigned to the 

respective organizations.

- Require career paths to include guidance to identify SME and managerial/leadership tracks 

in career paths.

§ Require a report to the Secretary of Defense, within 6 months of enactment of this 

recommendation, that details how DoD will implement Congress’s direction. 
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Implications for Other Agencies

§ The changes in how the AWF is trained, qualified, and developed should be presented to OFPP. 

If these recommendations are implemented, they may affect how the AWF in other executive 

branch agencies are managed.